VSGA Valley of the Sun Golf Association Year in Review

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "VSGA Valley of the Sun Golf Association Year in Review"

Harvey Morris
5 years ago
Views:

1 [GOLF] Results from Cave Creek GC - 01/06/2007 Notable Facts: Dennis Bland must have not been playing in the cool morning or in the wind. How else could he lap the field but such a comfortable margin? Anyone notice how much easier the holes were downwind compared to into the wind? [GOLF] Results from Encanto GC - 01/13/2007 Notable Facts: The coldest round in recent memory. It never got about 42 degrees during the round and felt much colder. Three guys managed net one under, the rest of the field was more than net four over on average. To show how poor the conditions (and play) were, the prize winners were a total of 42 NET over par. About 35 shots higher than usual for our club. [GOLF] Results from Aguila GC - 01/20/2007 Notable Facts: Another cold round in paradise! Where is the Phoenix winter? At least the course was in perfect condition. Some good scores were shot for the first round of the 72 hole special event. Manny Vega is preparing to defend his match play crown by attempting to engineer his handicap. He shot 18 shots worse on the back nine than he did on the front. It is not too early in the year to start paying attention to Tom Jordan's absolute domination of the skins, especially the skins lottery! [GOLF] Results from Papago GC - 01/27/2007 Notable Facts: A fantastic first month of 2007 is in the books! On a course that was in very questionable condition for the winter season (very poor compared to all the other municipal courses) scores were fairly high. Joe Smith was the only one to play the round with just one double-bogey. [GOLF] Results from Tuscany Falls GC - 02/03/2007 Notable Facts: Only Del Gordon could manage to break net par. Good job Del! [GOLF] Results from Francisco Grande GC - 02/10/2007 Notable Facts: An obscene 47% of the field was able to shoot net par or better and take advantage of the easy tee choice for the winter shoot-out. We had 31 birdies. The gross average was almost three shots under our 2007 club average. Next time there, we will try the next tee back as the standard. If we prove to be "too good" for that tee, we'll move back to the tips! The unusual skins experiment made for some really HIGH skins, roughly triple the usual payout.

2 [GOLF] Results from Aguila GC - 02/17/2007 Notable Facts: In spite of some terrible scoring on average, there were some highlights. Mike Romo led a very strong flight with an awesome one over par gross from the back tees. He played the length equivalent of 19 holes and still smoked everyone. Steve Willis shot six over par on the 8th hole - he ended up six over par for the whole day, also from the back tees. Al Kulvinskas eagled #8. Keston Krause scored a fine eagle on #10 - Driver, 3-iron, 1-putt. Yes, it's early but Ken Ball joined the "multiple win" club and took a commanding lead in the Player's Cup race. [GOLF] Results from Ken McDonald GC - 02/24/2007 Notable Facts: Rumor has it that the rock-hard conditions at Ken McDonald should be temporary, at least until the monsoon season. Jeff Hiller made $82.25 with a nice birdie on the 14th hole. Nice skins payout again! [GOLF] Results from Maryvale GC - 03/03/2007 Notable Facts: Flight two went on a little bit of a birdie-barrage as the rest of the field absolutely took the week off. Flight three prize winners were a total of 15 over net par. Worst scoring average of the 2007 season so far for the entire field. Is anyone else tired of our cold and windy winter? [GOLF] Results from Encanto GC - 03/10/2007 Notable Facts: Calm conditions and a friendly track brought scores down to a respectable level. Ken Ball is a man on a mission for the Player's Cup, six players out shot Ken but he won 1st place in the 1st flight. Steve Willis has a new swing and it must be working. Jack Hills got 4th in his flight, yet received $109 cash for his $26 prize and betting stake. [GOLF] Results from Aguila GC - 03/17/2007 Notable Facts: Doug Leverette and Mike Monteilh proved that the whole can be much greater than the sum of the parts. They are the CANADA CUP Champs for All groups broke net par. This format is drastically favors the higher handicaps. Flight two AVERAGE net score was ten under par. Next year as an experiment we will play the same format but the handicaps will be tweaked a bit to bring the scores closer to net par. Something like 50% of half of the sum, rounded down. That would bring half the field over and half under par. [GOLF] Results from Dobson Ranch GC - 03/24/2007 Notable Facts: Bill Pence had a personal best two over par on the back nine.

3 [GOLF] Results from Cave Creek GC - 03/31/2007 Notable Facts: Perfect conditions pushed the scores low with almost 50% of the field at net par or better. Aside from yours truly, flight one really tore up the course. [GOLF] Results from Encanto GC - 04/07/2007 Notable Facts: Were we playing Augusta National on Saturday? There really was no good reason for the crazy high scoring! Al Kulvinskas is the lone exception, shooting even par gross. Nice. Farace knocked Foss out of the match play in style shooting 38 (not bad for a 20 HC) on the back nine and finishing with the best net score of the outing. Barwald collected about $65 in the side games but lost his match too. [GOLF] Results from Aguila GC - 04/14/2007 Notable Facts: Al Kulvinskas two-putted from 50' more than four times, did not make a birdie the whole day and beat everyone. If he had played the regular tees, he would have beat the field by at least eight shots. Only an unfortunate bogey on #18 kept him from shooting even on the back, from the back tees. If you think that is easy, try it next time. [GOLF] Results from Papago GC - 04/21/2007 Notable Facts: Very tough day to play, unusually cold, windy and cloudy for this time of year. The greens were rolling true and very fast. The field average was a crazy net After a disappointing collapse last week on the #18 hole to tumble out of the money, Foss came back strong this week and played the last 13 holes even par to smoke the entire field by five shots. He was the only one to break net par but did toss in a couple of really stupid bogeys on #1 and #10 to keep it real. [GOLF] Results from Maryvale GC - 04/28/ Spring Shoot-Out Notable Facts: A very financially friendly payout at the Spring Shoot-Out. Dan Angulo is still going very low every time he comes out. He and our newest member Jim Baker were the only guys to break net par. Everyone seemed to be whining about missing putts and the pins being tough. I think I heard that Manny (Mr. Shoot-Out) Vega missed a one foot eagle putt. I hope he made the birdie coming back! Congratulations to the Spring Shoot-Out Flight Winners: Foss, Vega, Blodgett, Angulo.

4 [GOLF] Results from Kokopelli GC - 05/05/2007 Notable Facts: After a long season at the muni's, Kokopelli showed its teeth, between the wind and pin positions and fast greens. Bill Lipka shot a net 27 on the back nine. [GOLF] Results from Ken McDonald GC - 05/12/ Two-Man Best Ball Notable Facts: Based on USGA handicap statistics, the odds against Sterland shooting a net 63 are 27,877 to 1. The odds against Valencia shooting net 63 are 359 to 1. They both did it on the same day! Good thing they were not partners. [GOLF] Results from Dobson Ranch GC - 05/19/2007 Notable Facts: Only three players managed to break net par on day that featured some pretty fun pin placements, especially on the front nine. The story of the day is Steve Willis shooting a very solid gross EVEN PAR. He is human, I saw him hacking one lefty on #13. [GOLF] Results from Francisco Grande GC - 05/26/2007 Notable Facts: No doubt, the lovely FranGran plays a little differently from nearly 7000 yards. Fun for a change, no? Believe it or not, more than 25% of the field made net par or better. Contrast that with the last time we played there (from the 6400 yard tee) and a little more than 47% made net par or better. Maybe next time we will try the 7545 yard tees? Maybe not... Bill Pence and Ken Newman had no trouble at all with the extra distance. [GOLF] Results from Club West GC - 06/02/2007 Notable Facts: Martin Meyer picked up his first win of the year but had to endure endless taunts from the ranger and other club players as his group finished more than 45 minutes behind the group in front of them. Ty Strozier missed out on at least $50 in skins - he got three natural birdies but did not enter the skins game. Nate Rice won a total of $66.25 for shooting net even par! [GOLF] Results from The Legend at Arrowhead Ranch GC - 06/09/2007 Notable Facts: Ron Young advanced to the finals of the match play for the second straight year. Dominating. For the first time in a really long time, a player covered by HIO insurance actually got a hole in one during our club play! Foss made the lucky strike last Saturday. He will get $200 which will more than cover the $115 bar bill. Fun fact: Foss got his last HIO (not during club play) 54 rounds ago, a mere 219 par 3 tee shots ago!

5 [GOLF] Results from Superstition Springs GC - 06/16/2007 Notable Facts: Superstition Springs GC always keeps your attention. The flight winners averaged net The tricky 5th hole was birdied six times! Possibly the best finishing hole we play, the 18th played to a 6.4 stroke average. Young and Blodgett are making a nifty mid-season run at contending for the Player's Cup. [GOLF] Results from Silverado GC - 06/23/ Sixes Tournament Notable Facts: A changing of the guard in the Sixes event, Jon Madison carded a career best and carried his team to victory with a fine gross +2, 72. Keston Krause just missed getting his team into the money with a sparkling gross, -1, 69. Keston jumped to #2 on the net score leader board. [GOLF] Results from Whirlwind - Devil's Claw GC - 06/30/2007 Notable Facts: It seemed to be feast of famine as 25% of the field broke net par. 76 was the magic number with Jim Baker, Ken Ball and Dave Dietz all hitting it. Summer Shoot-Out Winners: Ken Ball, Dave Dietz, Del Gordon, Tom Jordan. [GOLF] Results from Kokopelli GC - 07/07/2007 Notable Facts: It was NOT lucky sevens for our group of 7-HC players. They averaged a very sloppy Sterland played the final 15 holes even par to stroll to an easy victory and pocketed $37.50 in the side games. [GOLF] Results from Superstition Springs GC - 07/14/2007 Notable Facts: Terrible day for the flight one players, averaging a net yikes! Many players had trouble reading the greens except for Del Gordon who killed the entire field. [GOLF] Results from Whirlwind Cat Tail GC - 07/21/2007 Notable Facts: All three generations of the Rice Clan got into the money positions this week. Flight three beat all the other flights by almost five shots net? Jack Hills and Manny Vega tore the course apart each scoring net six under.

6 [GOLF] Results from The Legacy GC - 07/28/2007 Notable Facts: The Meyer team (Meyer, Ball, Dietz, D. Dietz M.) continued their domination of the special events. This time, Dave Dietz was the one-man-gang as the rest of the team languished well over par, Dave went crazy low and beat is 2007 gross scoring average by a mere 16 shots. They were the only team to meet their collective hurdle, it helps when one guys smashes his personal hurdle by 12 points. Honorable mention to the Foss, LaTondress, Sterland, Hiller team with the next best collective hurdle of -4. [GOLF] Results from Eagle Mountain GC - 08/04/2007 Notable Facts: Some season-long competitions were decided Saturday. Ron Young won the 2007 Match Play bracket, winning all four of his matches, the only one to never losing a match. Brandon Peters won the 72 Hole Net Stroke Play, coming from behind with a clutch net 66 on a tough track from the back tees. Mike Romo captured the hardest event to win (aside from the three-month individual twilight leagues). He is the 72 Hole Gross Stroke Play champion. It was men-against-boys as Mike absolutely abused the field winning by more than 15 shots over his best four rounds. By the way, Mike s version of the best four of eight rounds is to just play four rounds and kill everybody. Nice. [GOLF] Results from Club West GC - 08/11/2007 Notable Facts: Half the field played from the shorter tees, showing how flexible our tee approach can be. Different strokes for different folks. Foss and Nicholls were the only players to break net par from the extremely challenging yard tees. [GOLF] Results from The Foothills GC - 08/18/2007 Notable Facts: The rough at the Foothills was TOUGH! Miss the fairway and you really suffered. Oddly enough, the seven players who played from the brutally long tips played three shots better compared to net par than the rest of the field. Foss was the only player to break net par on a day when the flight net average was seven over par. [GOLF] Results from Talking Stick - South GC - 08/25/2007 Notable Facts: Intel won the match play challenge for the second year in a row. In the three years of the event, the difference between the two clubs has been exactly one point. That is crazy close. Next year, we will redouble our efforts. Very solid winning performances by Alex Bruening, Ray Foss and Brandon Peters. Joel LaTondress gets an honorable mention in a loss as he also broke net par but had to give up 31 shots to a player who shot net 66. Sadly, the team lost

7 [GOLF] Results from Superstition Springs GC 09/01/2007 Notable Facts: Tom Jordan noticed he was killing everyone, then remembered that the fall tournament starts next week, so he took a triple bogey on the last hole. He still smoked everyone net by a mile. Mike Romo had sixteen pars and two bogeys. Rare for Mike to not get a birdie in there somewhere, but one has to wonder what the hell happened on those two holes! [GOLF] Results from Gold Canyon Sidewinder GC 09/08/2007 Notable Facts: Henceforth to be referred to as "The Massacre at Gold Canyon" - 35 of the 37 men tried to handle the tips and only nine of them broke net 80. Gold Canyon certainly showed its teeth as the field shot an average of almost 13 over net par. Some of the holes were tough but I'm sure if we went back there we could get the average down to 10 over net par or so. There were a few bright spots, Valentino missed a double-eagle by about a foot on #18. Brandon Peters actually hit the 251 yard par-3 green in one shot. Foss and Molnar enjoy a lead in the twoweek net flight play by three shots each. Lots of golf left to play in this event. [GOLF] Results from The Legacy GC - 09/15/2007 Notable Facts: Two Week Fall Tournament Champions: Flight One: Ray Foss (+15/+1), Flight Two: Jim Molnar (+37/-3). 96% of the players shot better in week two compared to week one. The Legacy played about nine shots easier on average for the field. This time only four players braved the back tees. [GOLF] Results from Ken McDonald GC - 09/22/2007 Notable Facts: Very dried out and cut down Ken McDonald made for some interesting shot choices. Hiller is a master at putting from well off the green and that skill served him well as he crushed the field. Jeff went gross even par over a stretch of seven holes in the middle of the round. Ron Young climbed to second place in the Player's Cup standings. [GOLF] Results from Kokopelli GC - 09/29/2007 Notable Facts: Strange week, 10 players played REALLY well, the rest of the field was basically awful. Nobody was average? Flight three stepped up their game and averaged net While most of us are quite pleased with shooting net even par, Alex Bruening joins the pantheon of 2007 low net sandbaggers with his net -10. Other members of "that" club this year: Joe Smith shot a net -10 in January and Dave Dietz shot a net -11 in July.

8 [GOLF] Results from Silverado GC - 10/06/2007 Notable Facts: The only three players to break net par are the three International Format Special Event winners: Martin Meyer, Jeff Hiller, Manny Vega-sr. [GOLF] Results from Encanto GC - 10/13/2007 Notable Facts: Flight three played the best of the flights but no one dominated more that Brandon Duthler. He led flight three with a net -7, beating the field average by almost 13 shots and likely earning him a battlefield promotion to flight one. [GOLF] Results from Maryvale GC - 10/20/2007 Notable Facts: Last two groups finished more by moonlight than by daylight. Bill Pence wins the comeback player of the year award after returning from open heart surgery and playing Maryvale. [GOLF] Results from Ken McDonald GC - 10/27/2007 Notable Facts: There was about an hour on Saturday, starting at about 10:30AM when Mike Romo was the hottest amateur golfer in Arizona, possibly the entire country. He had four birdies in a six hole stretch on his way to a sparkling gross 71. [GOLF] Results from Dobson Ranch GC - 11/03/2007 Notable Facts: Flight three outperformed the field by about a four stroke average. They also got three times as many birdies as flight two. LaTondress won a total of over $75 in the various games for the pounding he laid on flight one. [GOLF] Results from Cave Creek GC - 11/10/2007 Notable Facts: Manny Vega had a career-best gross -3 on the front nine, he came back down to earth on the back nine. Jon Ott had a sparkling net 64. [GOLF] Results from Maryvale GC - 11/17/2007 Notable Facts: One of the lowest overall net scoring averages we have had all year. Beautiful day to play. [GOLF] Results from Aguila GC - 11/24/2007 Notable Facts: The 8th hole was birdied by nine players! Paul Scranton poured in five birdies, playing from the back tees to destroy the field.

9 [GOLF] Results from Papago GC - 12/01/2007 Notable Facts: By far, the toughest Saturday to play golf in 2007 here in the valley. The wind and rain made it seem like we played about 21 holes or so. Everyone who finished is a "winner" in my book. Jon Madison was the only "winner" to break net par. [GOLF] Results from Dobson Ranch GC - 12/08/2007 Notable Facts: OK, so the December Saturdays are a little tough for golf so far. We have a very tough gang and 36 of 38 players braved the very cold, wet Dobson Ranch and finished with a smile. Foss tied a personal best on his beloved home course with a sharp 73. [GOLF] Results from Encanto GC - 12/15/ Blue Ball Special Event Notable Facts: Another cold start, but a fun round in the Blue Ball special event. Only two players (Dietz, Johnson) broke net par. As usual, the "D" players statistically out-performed the other flights compared to net par at Encanto, for some reason that always happens there. [GOLF] Results from Maryvale GC - 12/22/2007 Notable Facts: Frost greeted us once again at Maryvale and with it came some of the worst scoring averages of Several net 79's and above got into the money. The prize "winners" were a total of 208 strokes over par gross and an average of 3.6 strokes over net par. [GOLF] Results from Cave Creek GC 12/29/2007 Notable Facts: Showing some firepower, Steve Willis tore up the back nine with four birdies. For the entire outing, 10 of the 17 birdies were shot by the first two foresomes. Those first two foresomes also had the three flight low-net shooters and two of only three players to break net par on a tricky day at Cave Creek. This seems to dispell the myth that it is better to play later in the outing because it will be a couple of degrees warmer. Skin payout were nice and high with everyone in a single flight. Bill Lipka was the only player to birdie the hardest hole on the course.

Interview transcript: Russ Cochran September 26, 2010 Prestonwood Country Club Cary, North Carolina

Interview transcript: Russ Cochran September 26, 2010 Prestonwood Country Club Cary, North Carolina MODERATOR: Okay. Russ Cochran shoots a final round 71. And I know it was a battle out there, but you